BYD target Europe’s biggest all-electric bus fleet in London

Grand plan: BYD aim to save London 700 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions a year

28 September 2016 • 12:30pm

Find out about BYD’s ambitious plans for London and more bitesize stories concerning Chinese business, society and more.

All-electric bus fleet on road

The Chinese automotive manufacturer BYD put 51 new single-decker electric buses on the road on Sept 9, saying they would form Europe’s biggest all-electric bus fleet, saving London 700 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. The fleet hit the road after BYD’s initial supply of two electric buses to London three years ago proved a success in reliability and consistency in running a 16-hour shift without a recharge being necessary.

Royal courtyard given facelift

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, has begun to renovate one of its former imperial courtyard houses in an effort to better protect a building that is nearly 500 years old, and to set an example for the preservation of other historical buildings. The Yangxin Dian, or the Court of Spiritual Rest, built in 1537, has not been renovated in about 35 years. It is expected to reopen in 2020.

Electronic sports on syllabus

“Electronic competitive sports and management” is listed among 13 new subjects for vocational colleges in China next year. Other new subjects include early childhood development and healthcare, public welfare and charity management, music communication and big data technology and application.

Unified work permit on way

Foreigners who come to China to work will soon get a unified work permit, as the country tries to streamline the process and improve efficiency to attract more skilled foreign talent. The reform will combine China’s two current foreigner work permits into one.

Picture perfect

This remarkable photograph shows a girl practising yoga in the Yueyan Cave sinkhole at Dao County in Hunan province.

Credit:
Zhu Chanhui

Programme raises quality

A university foundation programme designed for international students receiving the Chinese Government Scholarship has helped China find better-qualified recipients. More than 4,300 international students received the scholarship 20 years ago, but last year 40,600 students from 182 countries came to study in China with support from the scholarship. In recent years the number of recipients has risen 13 per cent annually.

Driverless subway ready to roll

China’s first driverless subway line, the Yanfang line in southwest Beijing, is expected to start operations at the end of next year. Operations on the line will be fully automatic, including train departures, door opening and closing. China started developing its own fully automatic subway system in 2010 and has mastered the core technologies.

Splendour of the marigolds

Aerial photos taken on Sept 8 show the colourful splendor of blooming marigolds at scenic spots in Xinghua city.

Unique fabric for cool clothes

Chinese researchers at Stanford University in the United States have developed a plastic-based textile that can cool the human body and may some day reduce demand for air conditioning. The material cools not only by taking away sweat like ordinary fabrics, but also by allowing the heat that the body emits as infrared radiation to pass through.

Documents tell wartime tale

The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum has said it hopes that documents about Jewish refugees’ life experience in Shanghai during the Second World War will eventually be listed in China’s national legacy archives. The museum said it will continue enriching and improving its collection of historical materials and make them part of the national legacy archives, and then global archives.

Investment deal signed

The leader of Britain’s secondbiggest city, Birmingham, signed an investment deal worth up to $2.7 billion (£2 billion) with a major Chinese development company Country Garden. The company will initially see large scale investment opportunities in the Birmingham city region area with particular focus on regeneration and investment options related to the HS2 (highspeed rail) project.

New free trade zones

Chinese authorities have decided to set up seven new free trade zones across the country, bringing the total to 11, as China looks to replicate the success of previous trials. The new zones will be in Liaoning, Zhejiang, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces as well as in Chongqing municipality. The expansion comes three years after the launch of China’s first free trade zone, in Shanghai.

Plenty of space for scientific discovery

A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Tiangong II space lab blasts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China on the night of Sept 15. This is China’s second space laboratory, which space officials said will become the country’s largest scientific platform in space.

Credit:
Ju Zhenhua

Two Chinese among top 10

Forbes has published its 2016 list of the 100 richest technology billionaires. A total of 19 technology tycoons from the Chinese mainland, three from Hong Kong and two from Taiwan are on the list. Two Chinese entrepreneurs made their way into the top 10.

Spending on IoT set to increase

Chinese manufacturing enterprises’ spending on the Internet of Things is expected to grow by an average of 14.7 per cent a year and reach $127.5 billion (£95.7 billion) by 2020. During the process, software and services will lead the way for fast growth with a combined market share of over 60 per cent.

Global export share rises

Brushing off rising wages, a shrinking workforce and intensifying competition from lower-cost nations from Vietnam to Mexico, China’s global export share rose from 12.9 per cent in 2015 to 14.6 per cent last year. That is the highest proportion of world exports in International Monetary Fund data going back to 1980.

High-altitude airships

Chinese scientists are developing a family of high-altitude airships that can help with Earth observation, maritime monitoring and communication signal relays. Researchers are working on the stratospheric airships, so-called because they can conduct longterm operations in the stratosphere, the second major layer of Earth’s atmosphere.